A bleak end
by Hollowman1994
Summary: Teams C.F.V.Y., R.W.B.Y. Penny and several Atlesian knights are lead by Prf. Glynda Goodwitch on a joint Grimm extermination mission. But a monster lurks nearby and pushes Penny to make a difficult choice. Can Ruby and her friend survive in the wilderness alone? Who hunts? Who is hunted? (I have recently re-rated my story due to very violent themes.)
1. A bleak end

R.W.B.Y.

A bleak end.

Chapter one.

Disclaimer. I do not own R.W.B.Y.

Ruby Rose was running. She was running because she was afraid. She was not running away in fear. Rather she was running to something; someone. She was in deep trouble. She was afraid.

Ruby.

_"My legs hurt." _I thought as I leapt from the bank of a creek and over its grey waters. I landed perfectly despite the pain. Trees flashed by me as I sprinted top speed through the forest of forever fall. Once upon a time I might have called this forest beautiful. Not tonight. "_This is like a nightmare_" I thought.

Rain began to fall and I could hear the sounds of Beowolves behind me. They were catching up. But once they reach me they will die quickly. I could see her by her orange hair. It stood out slightly amidst the red of the forest. Penny was only feet away. I stopped and turned around to face the Beowolves. They DID die quickly.

"Ruby… Stop following me"

Penny had tried to run away from Ruby. To protect her naturally. But Ruby Rose's semblance for speed made it impossible for Penny to run away. So she begged.

"Please Ruby let me fight this. Let me do live up to my destiny…. You'll die if you try to help.

"I won't let you leave me Penny. I won't let you fight this alone!"

Penny had her back to me still but I could almost taste her distress. She was thinking.

"Will we live through this?" I know because I was thinking the same thing.

Six hours earlier.

Ruby.

The air ship rattled and quaked on invisible eddies of air. I imagined we were in a cradle." A cradle being rocked by Zeus throwing a hissy fit." A serious storm was brewing in the north and was headed our way. Team R.W.B.Y., MY team, had been sent on a joint Grimm extermination mission. We departed with team C.F.V.Y. ("Coffee". Coco, fox, Velvet, Yatsuhashi.) Twenty Atlesian Knights, Professor Glynda Goodwitch, Penny and her two body guards. We arrived at the drop zone three miles outside the settlement. It was a plain covered in red grass as tall a Yatsuhashi. We gave ourselves five minutes to stretch and double check our gear and weapons before we began our trek towards the village in distress. We entered the village after an hour of walking briskly through the Forest of grass (The bleeding plains are their official name). Once we entered the village limits we saw a…. An unhappy sight.

"Oh….Oh no." muttered Prf. Goodwitch.

The entire village was slain. The bodies of smoking Grimm lay strewn about, but the smell that really choked us was the villagers decay. We were far too late. Whatever Huntsman or Huntress had been present had already died. The clouds began to grow thick above. I was actually sick to my stomach. I staggered over to the nearest ally and retched. When I finally drew in air to breathe the wind had changed directions. The corps stench had been blasted full onto me, and into my lungs. I did more than retch. I spewed my lunch into the ally and registered both a sick raw heaving sound (coming from my own throat) and a pair of hands holding my hair back as I let fly what little was left in my stomach. Once I finally finished vomiting all over the ally I tried to breathe again. The exertion of heaving into the ally made it impossible to breath. My head was spinning and little lights, like static on a badly tuned television, speckled into my field of vision I inhaled one more time. Got a blast of putrid air AGAIN. Dry vomited so hard my chest seemed to split. Then I passed out.

I woke to chaos.

The sound of Grimm roaring at the top of their lungs was the first sound I registered. Surprisingly I was on my feet already with Crescent Rose in my hands. I was standing and fighting. But, WHEN DID I STAND UP? Yang rocketed past me and slammed into the dirt road that was the only route into the village or out. Weiss flashed forward and rent a Beowulf apart with a burst of red from her blade Myrtenaster. Blake took advantage of the lull in the forward attack to rush over to Yang in concern. After that point I didn't see either of them again. Professor Goodwitch stood before an entire hoard of Grimm alone. But she was not being overwhelmed. What would have been too much for even Blake and Yang together was proving a healthy workout for the deputy headmistress. While wearing heels and a narrow skirt Glynda Goodwitch was visibly the more threatening enemy between the fifteen or so Grimm in front of her, and her own person. She raised her riding crop above her head and from it burst ten foot high arcs of lightning and crackling energy that smote her monstrous dance partners and reduced them to ash. But more Grimm were coming. And more. The tide of black and white armored bodies began to press in on us. Only two of the original twenty Atlesian Knights had been struck down thus far. Team C.F.V.Y. was a force of nature. No creature of Grimm stood before their number and lived. Velvet dashed quick as lightning round and round her opponents and dispatched them when she pleased. Fox and Yatshuhashi were standing back to back as the Grimm tried to pinch them in. But if any beast risked taking a snap or bite at the two the monster died instantly. The young men were simply too powerful to be overwhelmed. Coco was like a goddess of battle. One of the warriors of legend standing before my very eyes. Coco was being altogether ignored by the Grimm. The girl was do dangerous to get within a hundred feet of. She had leveled dozens of Grimm already and had dedicated the rest of her ammunition to keeping the skies clear of Nevermores. And Penny was flying. She dashed and danced and swung her arms and swayed her body, the very image of savage grace. Ten blades were at her disposal, but my android friend used them like ten thousand. I rushed up to stand by her and swinging my scythe I fell in beside Penny in battle. My legs darted, my back arched, my arms never stopped moving once. It was kill or be killed and I had no intention of dying. I kept fighting and fighting until I heard a voice call out.

"EVERYONE THE AIRSHIPS ARE ON APROACH WE MUST RETREAT! WE CAN'T KEEP FIGHTING."

I couldn't tell who spoke but authority supported the tone of the words, Glynda? Maybe. But the order was in to fall back, so we would need to do just that. The air thrummed as two small airships, of a different design from the one we rode in on, dropped in and opened their outer hatches to admit us inside. Professor Goodwitch blasted the road behind us with violet energy as regal in hue as it was deadly. After blasting the ground to cover our backs for escape prf. Goodwitch began shouting orders.

"Team R.W.B.Y. board the craft to our left Penny, Red, Blue accompany them. Tem C.F.V.Y., Knights with me on the one to our right. Let's move people!"

My team and I boarded the craft designated. But only two of us.

"Weiss, where are Yang and Blake?"

My partner turned to me and frowned.

"I don't know Ruby…"

One of Penny' body guards spoke up. (Blue)

"Is that them?"

He said pointing towards the center of Glyndas lightning. Almost in answer Yang burst through the wall of spell woven electricity with Blake over her right shoulder and blood rushing down her left arm. She began running towards the airship nearest, ours, and was shouting at the top of her lungs. At first her calls were inaudible, but she finally made herself heard.

"RUN! GO GO GO! I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS! ITS TOO STRONG GO!"

Yang reached the airship and pounded the pilots' cabin shouting.

"TAKE OF NOW! YOU MORON! TAKE OF NOW!"

The pilot took her words to heed and launched. But unfortunately we all got the chance to meet the Grimm that Yang had fled from. At first I mistook it for one of ours. But the more I looked, the more I saw. It was a walking nightmare. Its body was black as night and without depth like a shadow. Its mask was shaped like a human skull. It looked up at us. Or… ME? The… divergent? Held a ruined knight in its left hand… But suddenly its arm was extended towards us and the ruined robot was smashing into penny who had darted forward to spare me the blow. We crashed down onto the deck of the airship and rolled. Penny was stunned and gripped me around the middle as I slipped off of the edge of the deck and gripped the frame of the door. The rest of my team and Penny's bodyguards had also crashed down as the pilot began whipping around and about to take us home. We accelerated and were over the forest of forever fall in a matter of seconds. Yang had seen my fall but was too stunned from blood loss to do any more than reach towards me. Red darted to me and grabbed my wrist to help pull me in. But the combined weight of both me and penny along with the g-forces was too much. He fumbled. Cursed, and lost his grip.

Penny and I fell.

We landed safely in a small pond, lucky right? It depends on your point of view really. Landing in a pond in the Forest of Forever Fall…. That only sounds half lucky. As best as I could tell we had been able to escape the skies above the bleeding plains but the forest edge was probably no more than three or four miles away from the fortunately place body of water that Penny and I climbed out of. (Dripping wet.) But penny had a look on her face that bothered me.

"Um, Penny? Are you OK?" I took a step towards her as I spoke. But my red haired friend took a step back. Penny looked me in the eyes.

"Ruby… Did you see that Grimm? It looked a lot like a person. Mr. Ironwood thinks that Grimm like the ones we saw today are the next evolution in monsters. And he tells me that fighting this new threat, or ANY threat like it really, is my reason for existing."

I understand what she means. But I won't hear it. I can tell she wants to go and do what General Ironwood conditioned her to do for as long as she has been alive.

But she isn't going anywhere.

"Penny we need to get out of here! Yang and Blake were both messed up by that thing! What makes you think we could do any better?"

"WE won't do anything Ruby. Only me. I exist to fight monsters of a different level than anyone else."

I was both afraid and annoyed, but what penny said next was truly what sent me over the edge with frustration.

"Ruby… You need to go back to Beacon alone, OK? Tell Mr. Ironwood what I found. I have to do this…. Goodbye"

Penny turned to face me. Then a loud metallic sounding burst sounded as two of Penny's blades hurtled out of her backpack and into a tree trunk several hundred feet behind her. The wires that connected her swords to her coiled into her pack wrenching back towards the desolated village. She repeated the process over at the first tree and disappeared.

"NO! Penny stop come back!" I was alone in the forest of forever fall. And Penny was running towards one of the single most destructive Grimm in recorded history. Well more like sideways zip lining-WHY DO DETAILES MATTER?

I called on my semblance for speed and raced through the trees after her. I could hear the calls of Beowolves behind me. They had begun to pursue me. I was exhausted after maybe three hours… Four? Of battling Grimm. But I kept going. I kept running.

Now…

"My legs hurt." I thought as I leapt from the bank of a creek and over its grey waters. I landed perfectly despite the pain. Trees flashed by me as I sprinted top speed through the forest of forever fall. Once upon a time I might have called this forest beautiful. Not tonight. "This is like a nightmare" I thought.

Rain began to fall and I could hear the sounds of Beowolves behind me. They were catching up. But once they reach me they will die quickly. I could see her by her orange hair. It stood out only slightly amidst the red of the forest. But like they say. "Grey eyes are keenest". I happen to have grey eyes. Penny was only feet away. I stopped and turned around to face the Beowolves. They DID die quickly.

"Ruby… Stop following me"

Penny had tried to run away from me. To protect me of course. But my semblance for speed made it impossible for Penny to run away. So she begged.

"Please Ruby let me fight this. Let me live up to my destiny…. You'll die if you try to help.

"I won't let you leave me Penny. I won't let you fight this alone!"

Penny had her back to me, unmoving. But I could almost taste her distress. She was thinking.

"Will we live through this?" I know because I was thinking the same thing.

"Penny this might be your purpose, but it's also my job! I am a huntress of Vale. I fight the creatures of Grimm to protect those who cannot protect themselves. I have a partner Penny. Weiss. She and I fight together! Not apart. Professor Ozpin paired Juan and pyra. And Nora with Ren. My sister Yang with Blake. Coco and Fox, Velvet and Yatsuhashi. Sun and Neptune. Scarlet and Sage. Cardin and Russl. Dove and Sky.

Teams R.W.B.Y., J.N.P.R., C.F.V.Y., C.R.D.L., S.S.S.N. We fight together Penny always! Don't run from me. Let's do this together, OK?" Penny turned to look at me. She had green eyes that glowed with an internal luminescence. They seemed almost afraid but at the same time perfectly sure. They were beautiful eyes. And eyes filled with hope and fear in equal quantities.

"Together? As partners? Like you and Weiss?"

I smiled. She was listening to me. Penny might let me help. It filled me with joy. I was afraid of anything that could hurt Yang. Her semblance to take energy from blows and make herself stronger made her formidable. But if none of that matters to the strange Grimm? I doubted that Penny could take it alone. I doubted that we could take it together. But as I said it's our job. It's our destiny. I flashed forward and took Penny by the hand and pulled her into a gruff hug.

"Just like me and Weiss, except it'll be me and you!" The rain fell around us. Grimm lurked behind every tree. The very leaves stood blood red. We were surrounded by bad omens and WORSE omens and even WORSE monsters. But we were partners, teammates, and friends. We could never possibly fail. It felt that way at least.

"Team CopperRose" I mused quietly. Penny smiled.

A.N.

I think this will be fun. Also I call the Ship CopperRose. The name Nuts and Dolts is cute, but I always felt my name for it was better. This is my second fanfiction and the first time I tried my hand at a R.W.B.Y. fanfic. I hope it's fun. But what do you guys think? Put your thoughts in the comments, and if you have suggestions, tell me. For example what OTHER ships do you want to see? OzpinXGlynda? JuanXPyra? CocoXVelvet? YangXBlake? WeissXNeptune? Tell me and I'll see what happens. Also whatever ships are MOST popular on the side lines of this fanfic, might get their own story later. And just because I failed to list it does not mean I'm not open to hear about it. So fire away shippers! I am one of you!

… I really hope the RoosterTeeth crew reads these…. I would be soooo psyched out… If wishes were changes though. Ah well.

Finally. I have another Fanfiction, "Redemption", however it is not only a hassle to write it is based off of a less appealing series to me. Soul Eater. And while I love that series very much R.W.B.Y. is a whole new level of fun and amazement to me. So it would logically follow that I have more drive to write for it. So I am shelving Redemption for the time being and will instead release a new chapter to my R.W.B.Y. Fanfic every month. Enjoy.

Hollowman1994


	2. When will we fall?

A bleak end.

Chapter 2.

When will we fall?

Disclaimer. I do not own R.W.B.Y.

Ruby.

I woke to thunder.

It shattered the calm of the night and sent shivers down my side. I reached for Crescent Rose and pulled her close as if the sniper/scythe were a teddy bear. The calming effect was just as effective as any stuffed toy would be to a child. After I convinced Penny to let me help her fight the new, and extraordinarily dangerous, Grimm. We searched for a place to weather the storm that had been threatening since dawn. We found a small string of caves hewn into a stout rock face. We wiggled into the tight opening of the smallest one, shoved a rock in the way of the exit, and promptly went to sleep. At least I went to sleep. Once I found myself awake, I discovered Penny was as well. Watching her I wondered if she even needed sleep. Curiosity got the better of me.

"Penny?" She turned to look at me. "I was wondering. Do you sleep?"

It seemed an innocent question. Maybe it was rude to ask an android if they slept, but penny was the only one as far as I knew. Besides I'd already asked. Too late to consider consequences now.

"I do sleep… just… Right now I feel like… I don't really know how I feel. But the feelings are keeping me awake. So for the moment I'm not sleeping."

That bugged me.

"Feelings? What kind of feelings?"

Penny shrugged then started to explain to me as best she could the feelings that apparently made it difficult to sleep.

"I feel… In my chest I feel like something cold has… slipped in? Like an oddly shaped piece of glass was placed inside. It doesn't hurt, but when I first felt it, immediately as the Grimm threw the ruined Knight at you, my whole entire body became weak. I could have easily pulled us both into the airship except… I was crippled by the feeling. I was consumed by it. Then there's another part to it. I felt it when you were being sick in the village. It was as if I was sick too. Just not a physical sickness, I can't get sick like that. Also despite being crippled by the first emotion I was able…. I just NEEDED to make sure you where ok. I was being ripped apart by running from you too. It's more like two sensations really. But they both surface at the same time…. And they both…" Penny lifted her hands up as if she were trying to figure out a math problem, and then slumped onto the cave wall. "Drain me." She finished.

Penny was obviously in distress. And frankly I wished Yang was with us. Yang always knew what to do it seemed. But now… I had an idea of what the fist sensation was. Fear. I'd felt it when my mother died. I remember how I could TASTE it when the Nevermore in the Emerald Forest tried to mow me down with its feathers. I remembered the way I seemed to be drowning in it when the Death Stalker came up behind me to crush me like a bug immediately after. Fear sucks. It immobilizes you, weakens you and breaks you down to your most basic elements. Fear ignores your defenses and can't be battled against once it has you in its cold grip. It destroys you. But the rest of what Penny said? I supposed she just didn't want me, her first friend, to be killed. That was normal.

"Ruby?" I jerked back to alertness. I'd been taking a little while to answer.

"Oh. Sorry for spacing out! Well I think you're afraid is all. It's an awful feeling but it's one that all huntresses need to be able to coup with." I smiled. "I'll help you Penny. It's no biggie"

She smiled widely, looking reassured, and then she slumped back into the cave wall looking like a kicked puppy. I'm not too sure she can display a wide array of emotions… Or hide her feelings from others. I wasn't sure what the future would bring. But I knew it would suck if I was tired. So I rolled back over and tried to snatch some sleep before the morning.

Morning came dry from the sky, but damp everywhere else. Outside of our little cave the skies could only be called gloomy. Slate grey and no proper sunlight were all that could be seen above. The air whispered coolly against my face. I shivered. Penny stretched her arms up and twisted her back. I could hear metallic pops as she warped her skeleton. I was instantly spellbound.

Penny.

Ruby and I woke to discover the sky was still grey, but that the rain had stopped. I was exhausted from the previous day and could scarcely get any sleep last night. My internal diagnostics told me that the current temperature was approximately 59 degrees Fahrenheit. It wasn't information that was particularly important, I couldn't be bothered by atmospheric conditions unless they were extreme. My body won't overheat unless it is exposed for 30 minutes in extremely humid, 280-degree-Fahrenheit heat. Nor will my frame freeze unless my temperature drops to -210 degrees Fahrenheit. Ruby on the other hand seemed bothered by the low temperature. I looked out towards the red hued trees and took several paces forward. I reached upward stretching out my stiff muscles (My muscles are a metallic compound stronger than steel) then I planted my feet and twisted my back to pop my spine. Just like human beings a fluid wells up in between my joints and can be popped with just the same sound as a human backbone. I twisted three times working out every kink and crimp. I noticed Ruby had stopped walking and seemed to be staring at me. I turned to see that she was doing more than simply staring. She looked mesmerized. It made me self-conscious. I hugged myself.

"Ruby? The sound doesn't bother you does it?"

Ruby made no move to answer. She simply looked me up and down like I was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen.

"Ruby… Are you alright?"

My red clad friend shook her head. Like she was waking herself up. Ruby's eyes look as if they are trying to refocus. Ruby blushed.

"Oh! Shoot sorry Penny I didn't realize I was staring. You're just really, really pretty!"

That was the absolute last thing that I had expected to hear from, essentially, anyone. It was my turn to blush…. Sorta-kinda blush, my face gets warmer, but the hue doesn't change. An invisible blush if you will.

"Wait what? Pretty? Ruby I um. Thank you uh…"

Ruby had completely missed my embarrassment. And exhilaration. She approached and made it apparent what she meant by "Pretty"

"Seriously Penny I just can't get over how **human** you are functionally! I love it! My sweet baby could be improved VASTLY if I could study your body just a little bit."

As she spoke she drew her weapon Crescent Rose. Of all the weapons I had ever seen, this one was perhaps one of the most deadly AND sophisticated. I understood what she was saying. I was "pretty" from a technological standpoint. Ruby was the kingdom of Vales resident gearhead. Ruby was a grease monkey and an outstanding engineer. I am in her eyes the epitome of "cool" or "sleek" perhaps "remarkable". The realization that she was only geeking out left a bitter taste in my mouth. I wasn't sure why I responded the way I did… And oddly I couldn't look at Ruby anymore. I turned away abruptly.

Ruby.

I vaguely noticed Penny turned her back to me, but I was so_ fascinated_. I only had eyes for the enigmatic details that lay hidden beneath her skin.

What is her skeletal configuration? Does she have blood? How strong is her body? Are her muscles hinges and sockets? Or maybe there like human muscles but a stronger substance? Oh god… How is her BRAIN structured? That must be the single most sophisticated computer on all of Remnant! I wonder if she can eat or even needs food. Does she need to recharge? I know that she sleeps, but is that a function for storing energy, or is it just a kind of stand-by mode to make her appear asleep? Oh! What are her internal organs like? I can't see why she would need lungs or entrails or a liver, so what is it like under her skin? I wonder if she-

"Ruby? I think it's probably a good idea to begin looking for the Grimm."

Penny had brought me down from a near manic tech-high. But I still understood the need to be cautious and to complete the mission we had decided to undertake. My orange haired comrade began walking west (The direction of the village in between the Bleeding Plains and the Forest of Forever Fall.) I followed with Crescent Rose in sniper form, the stock pressed against my arm. The hunt is on!

Sundown. Ruby.

The sun shone blood red re-shading the white fabric of Penny's clothing crimson. The lines of green along the length of Penny's dress had turned an unappealing brown. The entire landscape was absolutely terrifying. Everywhere I looked I felt as if the two of us stood in a chapter of _Dante's Inferno_.

I had high hopes of finding this Variant Grimm and destroying it quickly… But maybe I should have hoped for it to have run off. Penny and I walked into the center of the ruined village. Penny stood on my right side with her a grand total of twenty floating swords balanced in thin air behind her, ten blades above either shoulder. I had my hood drawn over my head and shoulders. I clutched Crescent- Rose in sniper form beneath the folds of the red fabric of my cape; I intended to get the drop on this monster if it could be done at all.

The stench was still terrifying. But a new terror decided to welcome us into the village.

"Ruby, to the left"

Penny quietly warned.

I turned to get a look at what was on approach. It was the variant.

The fourth born…

Blood. Flesh. Bone. I.. Hungry. Kill the female sword.. Take the other.. I.. want.. The red female. Her body… Her screams… her womb… I… I am...

"I am King."

I charge.

Ruby…

The variant was chilling. Its mask was no different than a human skull. Its, his, hands looked like a humans hands, and so did its feet. It had a rock solid body. I like guys, I like girls, I get that if any guy I knew had a body like that I would never call it a body. I would call it a "Bod". So yea physically (From the neck down) the monster in front of me was HOT. That repulsed me in ways that I will never be able to style with words. I could explain my disgust at my twisted attraction with a blood curtailing scream. But I won't. The monster stood about fifteen feet away. CLOSE. I would not, could not, miss at this range. I prepared to lift my gun and fire. Then the Grimm did something that made my blood run ice cold.

It spoke.

"I am King."

I froze. The Grimm leapt into action moving like a shadow, soundless, swift and fast. Penny leapt in front of me as quickly as she could, sending her blades into absolute overdrive. My friend became my defender, my shield. Penny transformed herself into an impenetrable wall. The incandescent blades slashed and spun, stabbed and sliced, twisted and curled. All the while blood red light shone off of the blades like lacerations in the fabric of the world. The sight was as alarming to the eye as it was astonishing. Not Yang or Weiss or Coco, or ANY of the Huntresses or Huntsmen I knew would be able to slip through the storm of swords that Penny had called forth to defend us. But the Grimm did, like it was a walk in the park. With a backhanded blow Penny and her blades were sent flying into the building to our left. The flailing razors liquefied the wooden house like crackers in a blender. Then I felt a sharp pain in my right arm that quickly escalates beyond my ability to perceive. The "King" had wrapped his hand around my arm and squeezed.

"Mine."

The monster hissed. But it made a fatal mistake. I'm left handed. I whip my left arm up, fast as lightning and twice as deadly, and shove the barrel of the rifle into the monsters mouth. I pull the trigger.

Penny…

I call forth all my rage and my fear and focus. I direct that single-minded wrath into my blades and put a spin and twist on them like never before. I will cut this monster down. I will do it! I- just flew sideways. The world spins around me I hear a loud sheering sound and the tinkling of glass. My head hurts. Did I just get hit by a building? I black out for, a few seconds perhaps?

"Ruby?"

I groan. Every part of me aches. Servos are defiantly busted; backups might work with divine mediation. I look up and see a ruined shell of wood and stone peppered with my swords. Ruby is standing in the road wear I left her. But I notice something off. The sun should be set by now right? Then why is it still setting. When we entered the village it was setting in our eyes, only just kissing the horizon. The sun was STILL just kissing the… its sunrise, not sunset. Ruby has been standing exactly where I left her for twelve hours. I stop thinking and run.

"Ruby, Ruby! Are you ok? Say something! Please!" I'm right next to her pleading, too afraid to touch her. She's standing in a puddle. I look at it closely; I think that it's Ruby's' own blood. Ruby turns to me with a blank expression. Her skin is typically rosy and cute. Today it looks like a death mask. Ruby Rose turns to me like a frightened toddler. She draws in a rattling breath; her voice comes as a rasp.

"P….P-Penny. I… am so." Ruby's face twisted in pain and terror. 'Penny I'm _cold_. Please help me _please_"

She begins to cry. I look wildly around for anything that could help. The first thing I notice is the evaporating corpse of the variant. Its head is completely gone. Bits of white mask litter the dirt path in a way that suggest Ruby shoved a grenade in its mouth. But that could have only been luck. Sheer blind dumb luck. The Variant didn't fear either one of us. It tossed me aside like a rag doll. It felt like it had no reason to be cautious with Ruby, as it may have appeared that I was the only threat. Ruby's Semblance for speed was also a likely x-factor in the victory over the Grimm. If we had been perceived as serious threats, we would both be dead. It was the Grimm's arrogance that saved our lives. Not our skill or our determination. Not our training or tenacity. We stuck our heads into a guillotine and by the grace of every god and false god in all reality. We were spared. I numbly walked over to the tainted corpses of one of the slain villagers that we had come to protect. It was a girl, maybe fifteen or sixteen. Except for her missing left arm and leg, she was pretty. If I ever have a daughter I want her to look that pretty. Father says he can find a way to make it possible for me to have children. To be a mother, as long as I don't tell general Ironwood at least, father would find a way. The copse looked like a porcelain doll. She had beautiful golden hair, which looked auburn in the light of the rising sun. She wore khaki pants, and the brown vest she wore over a grey V-neck shirt almost, but not quite, made her look tomboyish. A brown leather hat lay next to her body. It looked similar to the kind of hats bikers were. She might have liked bikes. Or maybe she found it stylish. She didn't have on any shoes. I crouched down and pulled her vest off, and then I tugged her shirt over her head. She was bare underneath. I ripped her shirt into strips and turned away from the half nude ruin of a girl and walked back to Ruby. I checked her body over until I found that it was her right arm that was bleeding. I felt the useless limb and decided I would need to set the bone. Without warning or preamble I gripped her arm and set her broken forearm. She twitched and several tears slid down her cheeks.

I ripped Ruby's sleeve of and began winding the makeshift bandages around her arm. I turned to the building that my blades had ruined and picked up two pieces of thin wood both about eight inches in length. Striding over to the still silently weeping huntress I took the shards of house and fashioned a splint for Ruby's arm. I turned to the house one last time. I called on my blades. The power symbol on the guards of each sword glowed green. Then, responding to my call, the twenty razors that made up my weapon lifted up into the air lined up behind me vertically in a straight line. I compressed the swords down into a single blade, I folded the now single weapon in half with a command and at last stowed it in my "backpack" the "sheath" for my weapons. A single photograph caught my eye, part of the wreckage. I noticed it because it was the smiling face of the girl I just stripped. This must have been that girl's home. The upper left corner of the picture was cut, but other than that one flaw the image was pristine. I flipped the photo over. It read: Blanca, age 14, 6th Era. 99. The girl's name was Blanca. I threw my head back and laughed, my mirth wasn't brought forth from amusement. It was from anguish and misery. "Blanca" means "White". That poor girl died at the age of fifteen judging from the date on the picture, the current date was 6th Era.100. The one-hundredth year of the sixth Era only a year more than the pictures date. She lived for fifteen years with a name that meant "White". She was pretty and had a cute smile as the photo proved, she was a happy person, and she was MEANINGLESS; all the way down to her NAME, empty, just another disposable soul. Blanca. I suddenly found myself staring down at Blanca's cold expressionless face her small chest directly beneath mine, her skin as pale as her names meaning. She was a ghost, a phantom she didn't even matter! I knew that I wasn't even afforded the luxury to BURRY her. I felt warm arms around my chest and could hear soothing words that did nothing to bring this girl back. I wasn't laughing anymore. I was sobbing.

"WHY? WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE? IT'S NOT FAIR!"

I was shouting at the top of my lungs at a girl who I had never known, who never had any idea that I existed who would never grow up, or do anything for the world, be it bad or good. I was on my hands and knees shouting at a girl who had been dead for two days, screaming about fair and unfair like it could change something. I reached down for the girl and held her like she was my dead sister I held her because she deserved it. My embrace was the last respect she would get from the living. And being an android I barely even qualified as "Living". Then I heard it, the voice of reason; the sweet music of the voice of an angel.

Ruby…

Penny was in hysterics, she had picked up a photograph in the house the Variant had thrown her into and then started laughing like she had gone completely insane. She twisted and stumbled out of the wreckage over to a half-naked body, lying in the road. She stumbled over her own feet just shy of the body, and then crawled the rest of the way. She hovered over the dead girl with her knees on either side of the lost girl's hips and her palms over the girl's shoulders. Then her breath heaved mid laugh and exploded into a screech of anguish. Penny yelled about fair and unfair. In her suffering I saw something. Penny was more than a machine; so very much more. A chill crept up my spine. She is a girl, lost and afraid. She has few friends in the entire world and is the only android in existence. I love her too. I love her. I've been in love before, three times, two guys and one girl. It feels, in hindsight, like my attraction to them was a tame feeling. And now that I stop to use the brain in my skull, I realize that Penny viewed me in a more romantic light than I had initially realized. It was Penny who held my hair back when I was being sick in the Village alley, she had been hurt when I called her pretty and then proceeded to compare her to my weapon versus a human girl. I told myself that she was a person to me. I had lied to myself.

I looked on miserably as Penny wailed in fear at a cruel fact that I had already learned when my mother died fighting Grimm. People die, the strong, the weak, the wealthy, the poor. There is no rhyme or reason, no logic is found in it. People die and that's it. I walked over to her went to my knees and embraced her from behind. I held penny closely and warmly. She slumped down onto the dead girl holding her close like a dead relative; I noticed the photo she had picked up it was lying on its face, and I could see that it had been labeled with the girl's name. Blanca.

I got the cruel joke now. The dead girl's name reflected her life; empty, innocent, meaningless, and white.

"Penny. Honey its ok. Listen to me. She's gone, all of them are gone. We can't help them now except by going back to Vale. We need to tell General Ironwood and Professor Ozpin. We need to be ready to face off with a monster like the variant and survive the encounter on purpose. We need to leave. We need to become stronger so we can protect other people from Blanca's fate. We need to go home."

Penny choked out one last sob, nodded and let Blanca go. She stood, I wrapped my left arm around her shoulder, she lifted her right arm down to my waist. In that fashion we walked over to Crescent Rose which had fallen from my grip after I shot the variant. I retrieved my weapon and pulled out my scroll with my injured arm, blinking at the pain. I turned it on, no signal, so I activated my map app. I located our position and pointed us towards the kingdom of Vale. Limping and fatigued Penny and I began the trek back home.

A.N.

…..I was just as surprised as you guys when I typed this. I DID draw out a story line… But Man I am NOT using it! HA! I do hope however that you, the readers, are enjoying my work. This won't count as the January addition to "A bleak end" it's a new year's gift. But don't expect chapter three until late January, not the 30th more like the 20th-ish. But I hope you guys will leave a review so I can take this in a direction that you might like to see it go. It is implied that there are at least three more variant Grimm out there since when I briefly slipped into the variants POV he was described as "The forth born" There will be more. Think of the power struggle in feudal Europe between the first born son of a king and the second. First come first serve and his little brothers get the scraps. The scenario between this Grimm and his siblings is going to be similar. But it will be uglier. I want to also know if you want to see character deaths. Can you stomach watching characters drop like flies? We will see. Happy new year.

.Hollowman1994


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